AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3870WNGXBOX

Pros: Good processor nice and stable, doesn't over heat. Stays nice and cool. haven't had any problems with it so far.

Cons: None

Pros: This is a decent budget CPU + GPU. Running this in the girlfriends computer so she doesn't do much gaming or anything intense on the CPU. This runs nice and cool (did put in a water cooler) even while overclocked, usually somewhere around 32C. I've never used an APU before, but since it was a budget build I figured it was worth a shot. It is good if you don't really want to spend the money on a dedicated graphics card. Plays HD video well, streaming and from file/bluray.

Cons: Don't buy this if you are going to be gaming on the chip alone. It is not really designed for gaming unless you are going to have another card. A good alternative would be to get this chip along with a compatible dedicated graphics card and running in crossfire. Theoretically that would make for a decent gaming rig, but I have not tried it. Maybe in the future :)

The only reason I dinged an egg is because this chip did not overclock very well for me. I'm running it on an Asus F1A75-V EVO FM1 AMD A75 which got very good reviews on overclocking. Now it is quite possible that it is the board, but I believe that it is more likely that the chip is the culprit. So it overclocked to 3.3ghz which is more than she would need, but I was expecting something better.

Pros: Good power profile, it consumes very little power when idling.

Unlocked multiplier makes it much easier to overclock than the A8-3850.

The iGPU is strong enough to play even some of the latest games at 720P on high. The iGPU also supports OpenCL acceleration so applications like the Adobe Creative Suite which can utilize that technology will receive huge speed boosts.

The CPU is plenty fast enough for gaming and overclocked to 3.6Ghz or higher these are pretty stout. I also used this CPU to convert video files for a while when my main system was down.

Cons: No level 3 Cache so multithreaded workloads take a very small performance hit compared to an equivalent Phenom II CPU.

Not the greatest overclocking chips around.

Other Thoughts: I run this chip @ 3.7Ghz paired with a Radeon 6670 1Gb for AMD Dual Graphics and it plays games just fine. It was my wifes main computer for over a year, but has been demoted to the living room media PC where it now plays steam games, and streams media from my NAS to my 52" TV.

The new Trinity based APUs are slightly faster than these, but they are still a contender and if you can find a combo deal with a nice motherboard you can likely save alot of money while not sacrificing a lot of performance.

Pros: Great APU. Plays all my games just fine.

Cons: Be careful overclocking.

Other Thoughts: For my first time overclocking, system became unstable. So if you're a novice, be careful and don't panic. But it's been fine since then. I can play my Humble Bundle games perfectly.

Pros: Very fast, and great temperatures on a basic fan cooling system. Stock heat sink and fan work great. Doesn't go above 50C-55C under 100% load, idles at 2C-4C, this is overclocked at 3.5GHz.
Greatly improved the performance in ALL of my games, frame rates haven't been measured, but what I can see and feel is more then enough. This is being paired with a GT 440, not overclocked. Overclocked to 3.5Ghz a performance increase is still notably felt and seen while playing, tested on games like Assassins Creed 3, Crysis 2 and 3, Diablo 3, TERA, Black Ops, and well, you get it.

Cons: Overclocking is bring an issue with one core staying a couple hundred mghz below the other 3, core #2 is actually the culprit.

I am also noticing some lag while typing, only happened when starting to overclock this APU. Nothing horrible, but it is noticeable.

Other Thoughts: Right now I'm loving it. Overclocks nicely, and no need for a aftermarket cooling system to get to 3.5, 3.6 Ghz.

Pros: Here goes.... I am an Intel person and have been for 10+ years. I recently decided to go with Amd's A8 3870k processor for mine and my wises build. I was a bit sketchy on the reviews and personal dealings with Amd, but despite all that I went ahead and bought them anyways. After installing them and playing with the processor, I was pleasently surprised at its performance. It handles multi-tasking and gaming better then I had thought it would. As for the overclocking on it, I'll find out soon....

Cons: Surprisingly, none.

Other Thoughts: I would recommend this processor to friends and clients on a budget build that want performance aswell.

Pros: -Low heat
-Low Power
-Low Noise
-Great Blu Ray playback(everything from from disk rips to downloads)
-Still uses the same Heatsink mount as 754/939/AM2/AM3/
-Can play games ok

Cons: -You don't really need this level of power for a HTPC.
-If you buy this for gaming, you will be disapointed. It does game decent but for the price of a setup, you could go Intel I5 or even I3 and a better video card. The CPU does decent but intel's CPU's ARE faster. The graphics makes this package worth buying along with low power consumption. Its meant for HTPC's or a broke mans gaming computer but don't expect this to do crysis maxed...

Other Thoughts: I bought this because i needed something to encode video and i had no other machines. This made a difference but as soon as i got my Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM(Quad W/ HT), there was no need for it. I removed it to fall back to the 2.1GHZ A6 i replaced. The A6 played Blu Ray just as well and consumed less power.

I have always used AMD in desktops (I have a 939 Opteron setup) but AMD can't ride this cheap bandwagon. I miss when they used to build the better product...now its just building the cheaper product...

That being said, if you are buildthing a HTPC and need something with some CPU power, then pick this guy up. You can do some low end gaming, but don't buy this CPU and then another video card... its a waste of money. I did run borderlands 2 on this and it was easily playable.

Pros: Excellent processor, the integrated graphics are ace! Able to watch 1080p videos/movies and play most games on medium or high quality.

Cons: The only thing that I wasn't crazy about was the clock speeds. At maximum, I could only clock it to 3.4ghz

Pros: Fast cpu recommended to other buyers. Videos, apps, streaming is 10 time faster now.

Cons: Like some one said the stock fan gets loud and makes this humming sound after a couple of runs on it, got me a better cpu fan. I took one egg off cause of that

Pros: This is my first time trying out an AMD chip. I bought it because of the APU features for my HTPC/home central server. So far I'm impressed by what this little chip can do.

Stutter-free full Blu Ray play back of uncompressed 1:1 movie files.

Keeps up reasonably well ripping Blu Ray to HDD with previous i5 3570k that used to do its job.

Keeps cool! Really cool. Which I like, even at a slightly overclocked 3.2Ghz on the stock cooler. During idle I even elected to shut the fan off completely with only a slight bump in idle temps (case has good airflow too).

Why overclock a HTPC/home server CPU? Because it did not increase temps under load and it throttles down when not in use anyways.

Cons: Factory fan is like a garbage truck coming to pick up your trash can on a Sunday morning when you're trying to sleep in. It's loud, noisy and needs to be replaced with something quieter and more efficient.